Tag Archives: New Year’s Eve

Where should you ring in the new year? Local options range from downtown dance parties to kicking it cowboy-style in the suburbs and everything in between. No matter if your preference is champagne and cocktail dresses or margaritas, one of these suggestions will take you into 2018 with style.

Omaha’s original gay nightclub will once again host its annual New Year’s Eve bash. Every corner of the club will be decorated with balloons and other festive décor. Bartenders will sling drinks at all five bars, but be sure to arrive to this celebration early. Party-goers will pack both dance floors, and lines overflowing onto downtown streets are also part of the tradition. The party starts at 9 p.m.

Voodoo Bar304 N. 168th Circle
402-968-0700facebook.com/voodoo.bar1
Did someone say, “free champagne?” You heard right—Voodoo Bar will continue its tradition of a free champagne toast for party people this New Year’s Eve. Guests will also be treated to free hors d’oeuvres and a DJ. Dancing, drinks, and music begin at 9 p.m.

Reverb lounge6121 Military Ave.
402-884-5707reverblounge.com/event/string-theory-nye-2018/
Count down the final hours of 2017 with EDM duo String Theory at Reverb, one of several local bands that will bring the year to a close in the heart of Benson. Dance, drink, and celebrate the connecting powers of music with dazzling performances. The bash will begin at 9 p.m.

If your perfect party includes line dancing, say “howdy” to this Ralston favorite. Two-step into the new year with hip-hop and pop hits thrown into the primarily country-music mix and drink specials from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. City slickers and country folk alike will get a kick out of this celebration.

While you’re out and about this New Year’s Eve, don’t forget to stop by Gene Leahy Mall. The spectacular fireworks show is expected to draw over 30,000 people—so be sure to arrive early. If crowds aren’t your thing, then head into the park for a quiet stroll with loved ones or simply enjoy the glimmering holiday lights. Fireworks start at 7 p.m.

This article was originally printed in the November/December 2017 edition of Omaha Magazine.

Anyone who went to dances or homecoming festivities at Creighton Prep, Marian, Duchesne Academy, Cathedral, or other Omaha high schools from late-1989 through the early ’90s probably bounced their head to the beat of a cover band called The March Hares. At the time, no one realized they were witnessing one of the most original talents ever to come out of Omaha.

Tim Kasher, “like most ragged teenage guitar players,” had already been bitten by the underground bug when he and four Prep mates, including Matt Maginn and Matt Oberst, older brother of future indie singer-songwriter Conor Oberst, formed the group. They performed covers of bands like The Clash, The Cure, and R.E.M. in public, while playing original music in one another’s basements.

“It was a good little business,” recalls Kasher fondly, from his home in Los Angeles. “We found what got us most excited and, instead of baseball, it was music.”

More than 25 years later, music still gets the indie rocker excited and “out of bed every morning.” He’s writing and recording original songs for his current bands, Cursive and The Good Life. He’s also using his degree in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to write screenplays and, as always, testing the limits of his vocal cords.

“It’s definitely getting tougher to push the voice,” admits Kasher, 42, whose nasal and sometimes pitchy cries of anguish make his voice unmistakable. “I long to be 20 again, when I could scream as much as I wanted to. I can’t mistreat it now.”

Kasher will have to pace himself this spring when he goes on tour promoting a new solo album, his third. Titled No Resolution, the album comes out in March and, according to Kasher, features the lush sounds of strings, which he helped arrange.

True to form, Kasher wrote and directed a low-budget, feature-length film of the same name that uses all the songs from the album. “The film No Resolution is about a couple in their 30s who get engaged because she’s pregnant,” Kasher explains. “It’s set over New Year’s Eve, an appropriate backdrop to expose that the guy isn’t quite ready.”

Omahans saw an early edit of the film during the Omaha Film Festival last March. The final cut comes out this summer. Unlike many of his lyrics, the movie contains no autobiographical details. A happy and devoted Kasher married an editor at L.A. Weekly about one year ago. The couple live in the Silver Lake neighborhood, where they mingle with a sizeable group of Omaha transplants.
The musician’s private contentment hasn’t tempered his desire for professional independence. With the new year comes an announcement sure to send tremors through Omaha’s indie sphere: Kasher now has his own record label called 15 Passenger, a nod to an old touring van.

“The new album is on it. We also have all our master reels for Cursive, so we’re going to be releasing our back catalog, along with new stuff” he says. “We’re not planning on getting into the game of taking big gambles on new artists. Just self-releasing.”

What about Omaha-based Saddle Creek Records, the label formed and grown, in part, from Kasher’s talent? “Saddle Creek is alive and well. We’re just transitioning over.”

With a new album, new film, and a new record label, the beat goes on for Tim Kasher.